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General Rules Lacrosse is a game of angles and opposites – Angles: Shooting angles, defensive pursuit angles, leverage, etc. – Opposites: Redirecting on clears, getting the ball to the backside on offense, dodging, etc. Space favors offense, Time favors defense Possession of the ball is priority # 1 – The crease attackman runs to every groundball, no matter where it is. – All attackmen converge, recover the ball, and reset RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals 4

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Alley Scoring Area The highest percentage of shots scored happen within 10 feet of the goal. This is why we should work to get shots from this area on offense. On defense we should work to defend this area. Defense should operate from inside the scoring area first, then outside. General Rules 5

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Defensive Team Concepts Goal: Take away space in the scoring area Time Favors Defense – Increase the amount of time the offense needs to get into the scoring area Always defend the highest percentage areas first Slide to the stick and chest, and recover quickly Force the offense to beat us on the opposite side of the ball All defensive players must work as one active unit to succeed RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals X X X X X X V V V V V V Hot Push Bump V – Defender. Point of V is the direction hips are pointing X – Offensive Player  - Slide --> - Recover/Peel Peel/Recover when hot man slides 6

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Defense RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals Basic Rules – The number one priority on defense is to defend the shooting areas. Try to force your man down the alleys and to the corners of the field behind GLE – When in doubt about any positioning, go to the scoring area and defend outward. Shooting Area Alley 7

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Defensive Team Concepts Active Voice Communication is king – The only way we can operate as a unit on defense is if everyone knows where their teammates are and what everyone’s responsibilities are Key Terms: – “I’m hot” – You are the man sliding to the ball – “Push” – You are replacing the man that slid at the same time he slides – “Bump” – You are replacing the push man – “Pick (left or right)” – Let your teammates know if a pick is coming – “Hold”/“Switch” – If you’re picked let your teammate know if he should stay with his man or pick up your man – “Man coming in” – There is an offensive player coming in who must be picked up RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals 8

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Basic Team Defense – Important terms The Hole – The area directly in front of our goal – #1 priority to defend – Go to this area: If there is a transition situation If you get beat If you are confused about where to be on defense RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals D DD M M M The Hole 12

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Basic Team Defense – Important terms Slide – When a defender has to leave the area/man he is defending in order to stop a bigger offensive threat 1. When a defender slides, he should approach in an athletic stance and under control 2. Give a good hard stick check to the man’s hands as he approaches 3. Keep his stick on his opponent’s hands/chest, applying pressure 4. Follow through on his slide with a hard push on the opponent’s hips RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals X X X V V V V – Defender. Point of V is the direction hips are pointing X – Offensive Player  - Slide 13

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Basic Team Defense – Important Terms Off-ball defense – Flat Triangle/BUM Triangle BUM Triangle: Ball – You - Man When playing defense off-ball, you should keep your hips turned sideways – Never fully face your man or the ball When looking at the ball carrier, keep your stick on your man – This allows you to see your defensive responsibilities and lets you see the ball – Head on a swivel Constantly be switching back and forth from looking at your man and looking at the ball Always know where your man is Always know where the ball is RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals A M V V V – Defender. Point of V indicates where hips are pointing YOU BALL MAN 14

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Basic Team Defense – Important Terms Split – If you are playing on the backside of the defense when a slide occurs there will be a brief time when two men are unguarded – Splitting is when you move to the area between your two responsibilities – Your job is to occupy this space until either: The defense recovers The player you are most responsible for receives the ball and you must defend him RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals X X X V V V – Defender. Point of V is the direction hips are pointing X – Offensive Player  - Slide V X V Split 15

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Offensive Basic Rules Keep Moving – It is always harder to defend someone moving rather than someone standing still When attacking the cage wait for the opportune time – It is important to create space for yourself Don’t drive into double teams, triple teams, etc. RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals 23

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Half Field Offense Dodging from point positions as well as from behind GLE on weak defenders Make defense move and then 2 passes to weak side attack Dodge-Pass-Pass-Dodge Utilize the pick and roll More crease scoring options with 2 players picking for each other RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals 24

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Basic Team Offense Always be deceptive – Whenever you do anything on offense (cut, pick, dodge, shoot, etc.) try to bait/sell your defender into thinking you are doing the opposite “Be a salesman” – The goal for the offense is to create space The defense knows this, and is attempting to prevent this from happening Deception will help to give us that extra bit of space that separates a poor shot from a good shot, or a goal from no goal RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals 25

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Creating Space V-Cutting – A V-Cut is done to prepare to receive a pass – To V-Cut a player should run at his defenseman and then change direction to open space – It is important that the player cutting does not stop his feet when receiving the pass, but rather runs through it – Time your cut so you are getting open when the passer can pass it to you Video: V-Cutting - Matt Danowski – http://www.playsportstv.com/major- league-lacrosse/matt-danowski_v-cut-for- space http://www.playsportstv.com/major- league-lacrosse/matt-danowski_v-cut-for- space RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals 26

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Creating Space RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals Cut after a pass: After any pass, cut somewhere Your cut should cause a shift of the entire offense This keeps the defense constantly moving and changing slides Creates confusion and can eventually create scoring opportunities 27

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Creating Space Off-ball cutting – Cut through the scoring area to set up scoring opportunities Fake one way and cut to the other direction Give the man with the ball a target – Cut to the feeder, not the goal Video: Cutting off-ball – Sean Delany – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LgRbOvLe30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LgRbOvLe30 RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals A M M A A M 28

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Creating Space Off-ball cutting – “Clear out” Cut through to create space for a teammate to drive Face the play and find space – Your man may slide and you may get a chance to score RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals A M3 M2 M1 A A A M3 M2 M1 A A Space 29

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Creating Space “Give and go” – Throw a pass to an adjacent teammate – If you catch your defender ball-watching, immediately v-cut to the inside on your defender – Catch the ball and take a good, quick shot RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals A M M A M A D 30

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Creating Space Feeding – A good feeder must be intelligent – Feeds require: Accuracy – Throwing an easily catchable pass Anticipation – Throwing to a spot where only your teammate can get to, in a good place to shoot, away from the defender Deception – The ability to fool the defense, so they cannot anticipate your throw – Keep your feet moving to keep the defense off balance Video: Feeding – http://www.3dlax.com/content/progressionoffensive-ball-controlfeeding http://www.3dlax.com/content/progressionoffensive-ball-controlfeeding RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals 31

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Creating Space “Draw and Dump” – Draw a defender and dump the ball off to the open man – You have drawn a man as soon as he turns his hips to you Dump the ball before the defender gets to you and blocks your pass RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals A M D D 32

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Creating Space Setting Picks – Picks should be set outside the “tracks” – This is so the cutter can have the best shooting angle after the feed – The picker should go to an area and let the cutter run off his pick – Keep your stick between your shoulders with your elbows raised facing the cutter to make yourself big – The most important part of setting a pick is after the cutter rubs shoulders with the picker, the picker “pops” to the feeder RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals M1 A M2 D1 D2 D3 Tracks M1 A M2 D1 D2 D3 Pop 33

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Creating Space Cutting off picks Run your defenseman in the opposite direction that you want to cut Change directions and run towards the pick It is important to rub shoulders with the picker to seal the pick You should continue your cut straight to the feeder not to the goal After you receive the pass get yourself to a good scoring area and shoot RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals A1 M2 M1 A3 M3 A2 34

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Creating Space Pick & Roll up top Two man game, man w/ ball must be smart with the ball – Man off-ball sets a pick for the man w/ ball – Man w/ ball brings his defender into the pick, rubbing shoulders w/ picker Important: Picker pops to the dodger after rubbing shoulders and seals the defender he picked with his back – If the defender/s follows, roll back and pass it back to the picker – If the man w/ ball has space, go to the cage and shoot Be safe with the ball. If all else fails run away from pressure and reset. Video: Pick & Roll from up top http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3sB3hS1pp8 RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals M2 D1 M1 D2 M2 D1 M1 D2 35

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Creating Space Re-Pick – Used when two players are on the crease – One player picks, the other cuts off the pick – Then the cutter cuts back and re-picks the original picker’s defender – The re-picker should then pop to space RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals A1 M1 M2 A2 M3 A3 A1 M1 M2 A2 M3 A3 39

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Working in Space “Caboose” – When a teammate dodges, and your defender is the slide man: Follow your defender to your teammate w/ the ball When your defender slides, pop to space and show your stick on the outside Receive pass and cut to the scoring zone – Always keep your feet moving RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals D A A D 40

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Working in Space “Pop” to space – Off-ball technique – Simply moving a few steps to space to improve passing/shooting lanes – As offensive players we must recognize where the space is and exploit it RCL Players' Manual - Team Offense and Defense Fundamentals M D2 A D1 A Pop 41